Homily for Feast of the Holy Family
December 28, 2025
Safe In Our Father’s House
If
you’re of my generation or older, you’ll remember all the dangerous stuff we
did as kids. Most of my childhood was spent without seatbelts, and forget about
airbags – we didn’t have any. I have fond memories of riding in the bed of my
friend’s dad’s pickup truck (completely illegal today), and I doubt I wore a
bike helmet before I was sixteen years old. Heck, we drank from garden hoses
and never wore sunscreen…it’s a miracle that we’re still alive.
But of
course, these things were dangerous and parents pushed for more safety and
security, which is why we have seatbelts and bike helmets. Every good parent
wants to protect their children – St. Joseph was willing to sacrifice a great
deal to protect his Son. To move to Egypt was a 200 mile journey, on foot or on
a donkey, with a newborn infant and a mother still recovering from childbirth.
He was going to a new land where he didn’t speak the language, didn’t know anybody,
and had no job or house lined up. But it didn’t matter – all that mattered was
that Jesus would be safe. In fact, most theologians believe that the reason
Joseph died before Jesus began his public ministry is because Joseph would
never have allowed his Son to suffer and die on a Cross – Joseph would have
done anything to stop it! And any good parent would do the same. I know parents
who have quit their jobs and moved to a new city so that their children could
have a better school, or better health.
But
Jesus said, “Do not be afraid of those who can kill the body, but cannot harm
the soul; rather, fear him who can destroy both body and soul in Hell.” More
precious than our kids’ and grandkids’ physical health is their immortal souls
– but how many families neglect this spiritual health! It is a spiritual
minefield out there. There is an Enemy who wants nothing more than to corrupt
the innocence of children and young people. So to raise a holy family is to be
willing to go to any lengths to protect your children from sin and evil. How do
we do this?
First,
it starts by making Jesus Christ the King of your family and home. I was
reflecting recently upon Jesus’ parable in Matthew’s Gospel where He said,
“Blessed is he who listens to my word and acts upon them – it is like a man who
builds his house on rock – when the storms come, it will not be shaken.” It
strikes me that it’s awfully hard to build a house during a hurricane – you
want to build it when the weather is calm and pleasant and favorable. In the
same way, some families turn to Christ when things get tough (“when we really
need Him”, they will say), but the middle of the storm is probably the worst
time to start a relationship with Christ. If He’s not already the center
of your life and your family, then start now when life is calm (or, in most
cases, calm-ish!).
In the
1940s as the specter of Communism and the Cold War threatened America’s
stability, an enterprising priest named Fr. Patrick Peyton found new ways to
encourage peace. He began hosting huge “Rosary Rallies” where thousands of
families would show up in sports stadiums and concert halls, all to pray the
Rosary together, and many more would join him on that newfangled technology of
radio. It was through the success of these Rosary Rallies that Fr. Peyton
coined the famous phrase, “The family that prays together, stays together.”
Indeed, praying together as a family is the cornerstone of making Jesus Christ
the King of a family and home. Maybe it’s a weekly Rosary walk together; or sharing
thanks out-loud at the end of a day; or making a quick visit to the Church
while running an errand. Of course, weekly Mass and monthly Confession should
be the non-negotiables of family life.
But
don’t just pray with your kids and grandkids, also pray fiercely for
them. Our Protestant brethren have a saying, “We’re gonna pray a hedge of
protection around you.” That has always conjured a funny mental image to me –
what, does the devil look at it and say, “Oh no, they discovered my weakness:
shrubbery!” But the idea is great – we can pray and fast a protective border
around our kids, but we have to pray fiercely. I truly believe the reason why I
didn’t go off the rails as a teen is because my father prayed the Rosary daily,
on his own, for us kids. After all, parents and grandparents have genuine
spiritual authority – their prayers and fasting have immense power before God. Parents
also have the right to renounce, rebuke, and reject any evil spirits
that are afflicting their home or their children – take that authority in hand,
and say (even out-loud) things like, “By the power of the Holy Name of Jesus
and His Precious Blood, I command that the Evil Spirit of X (depression,
anxiety, rebelliousness, sickness, lust, greed, etc) which may be afflicting my
child be banished forever, in Jesus’ Name and through the intercession of
Mary.” Don’t abdicate your spiritual authority!
Part of
that spiritual authority is to make your home a sanctuary. Fill it with holy
books, crucifixes, statues and images of saints. Do your kids have a crucifix
in their room? Do your grandkids have a Bible? A surprising number of families
do not have such things. Sacramentals (objects to help strengthen our faith)
make Christ not just a Sunday-only thing. After all, St. John Vianney said,
“Religion must be about us as the air we breathe.”
Perhaps
the most powerful way that the Evil One gets into our kids’ and grandkids’
lives is through technology. My friends, I cannot speak clearly enough – under
no circumstances should a parent give a smartphone, tablet, or other
internet-enabled device to a young person without a strong filter on it. I have
had pre-teens crying in my Confessional because they have encountered things
online that they shouldn’t see. No good parent would drop their kids off in the
worst part of Bridgeport for a night of unsupervised fun – why would parents
allow their kids a window into every evil thing in the world through their
phones or devices? Parents, it is a moral obligation to put a filter on your
kids phones – if they see something harmful through parental neglect, the sin
is on the parents!
But it
is not only technology that can harm a young person’s innocence – bad
friendships can do the same. In the 1200s, a young noblewoman named Margaret
fell in with some friends who were bad influences, and at the age of 17 was
convinced to run away with a knight. They lived without faith, outside of
marriage, for nine sinful years together, until his untimely death made her
reevaluate her life. She joined the Franciscans and is now St. Margaret of
Cortona, but she almost missed her call to holiness due to the bad influence of
her friends. How many young people could become great saints if they only had
good friends to support them! We have a duty to help our kids and grandkids
foster good friendships, and forbid them from friendships that harm their
faith.
In
today’s world, though, we can’t live as hermits. So it is necessary to help
young people to evaluate everything they encounter through the lens of the
Gospel. My dad used to do this – we’d be watching a TV show and he’d always
say, “Now, what do you think about this situation in the show? How does it
relate to the Gospel?” As Christians we must view all things through the Word
of God, but that requires training – so let us train our family to do the same.
My
friends, all good parents would do anything to protect their children.
Certainly St Joseph went to great lengths to save the Christ Child. But we have
an Enemy who wants to inflict worse harm than death – separation from God for
eternity. Are we as dedicated to protect our kids’ and grandkids’ innocent
souls, whom Jesus Christ purchased at so great a price?
No comments:
Post a Comment